When the Glasses Come Off
by ChEsHiRe81
Summary: As Alex, Kara and Lena go in search of the truth, none of them knew what they would uncover. What was in store for them now? Right after 4x17. Thank you Mistresserin and Shadow777997 for the support and encouragement you both give me.


_"Did you call me here to arrest me?"_

_"We know you didn't do this."_

_"That you would never do something like this."_

_"We're on your side Supergirl. We're gonna find out the truth..together."_

**_**end of flashback_**

"_GET BACK!_" There wasn't enough time to fly them both to safety, to some place where they wouldn't be in the cross-hairs of a deranged version of the Super. The crest this impostor wore was one that sent chills through one woman and rage through the other. "_DON'T ALEX!_"

Kara was struck hard, crashing to the marble tiled floor so brutally, the landing cracked half of the slabs in the woman's living room. She pushed herself up, wounded badly enough to feel far more human than she ever had before. Even when solar flaring, dealing with the injuries the other two had taken, this had been the worst pain inflicted on her. She barely had time to lift off the ground, when she felt the most brutal of gut punches knock the air right out of her. Crimson exploded from her lips, spraying her attacker in the chest.

Both women had taken the weakest of shelters behind a turned over desk. Shot after shot of her out-worldly weapon and she had yet to hit her target, switching to a gun with glowing green rounds as her partner in combat fired her own, just as furiously frustrated that no bullets had impacted. Instead, the walls were riddled with bullet holes and their caped hero took blow after blow by a caped monster. They kept loading new clips, attempting to help the Super and still without luck.

She could feel her body ready to drop, but just as she took another blow to the side of her head, noticing her vision blacken some, her attacker started to walk towards both of the women that meant the world to her. Her bloodied broken body be damned, she would not let them suffer or die from her failure to protect those she loved. "No...n...no.." Kara found the last of her strength, knowing if she did not bring the doppelganger down there would be no hope for them.

"_Shit...I'm out.._"

"So am I..._dammit! WAIT!_ The cabinet!" They nodded to one another and the black clad warrior shifted her footing getting into her fighter's stance. "_Ten seconds!_" She would give her that, come hell or high water. Her eyes darted down to the hammer looking crest and back up into a set of glowing orbs. A deep furious growl escaped her throat, but the monster just laughed.

"Hmm hmm hmm..._fool._ Your kind stands no chance against me. _You_ are unworthy of a name like Alex. _My_ Alex is powerful and ruthless. _You?_ For my Alex your death will be delicious to avenge a country who took those I knew away."

"What do you mean? _WE_ didn't do that! _HE DID!_"

"ALEX!" She threw the weapon at the agent, but it wasn't she who caught it. Within seconds it was crushed in the powerful grasp of the evil Zor-El. Laughter erupted from the monster that floated back with her eyes venturing to the side. "_NO!_"

"Alex..for Alex. _**Сладкая смерть обманщику и ложному герою.**_" She watched shock and confusion slip across enlarged chocolate hues.

"_Deceiver? False hero? ALEX! THE KNIFE!_" She screamed and saw the green glow in the kryptonian's hand. Out of the corner of her eye, a bloody battered blonde shot off the floor and between the agent and the dark impostor. "_NO!_"

Kara felt the knife plunge into the center of her chest as more blood painted the bitch's suit and face. She grabbed the wrist, of who she knew now to be her darker side, born from the _**Harun-El**_, keeping a firm grip on it.

"**_Khuhtov Zhehiod Vot Zhehdiv Tahn._**" Her eyes locked on the darker blues that no longer emulating a glow just like hers would. A nod and she let go of her wrist.

"_Why?_ Why give your life to spare these two? Both do not know who you are or pretend not to. _You.._give your life for them. _You_ will die for them. Very well."

"_Swear._" Kara struggled to say, fought to remain on her feet even when her own blood dripped from her lips.

"_**Мое слово тебе.**_ You have my word." She slid her hand to the hidden compartment along the dying hero's belt. Once she found what she was looking for, one simple push and Supergirl slid right off the knife she still held. The kryptonian dropped to her knees, unable to get back up. "_My word._" She walked right around, surprised the caped weakling still hadn't fell completely.

The agent slid in front of the CEO and raised her gun with the last round ready. The strike never came, instead the monster gave the most sinister of smiles and held up her hand, opening her fingers slowly. "_Pathetic._" She watched both sets of eyes look at what was on the tips of her fingers. As the object slipped off them and fell towards the broken marble floor, the Super _too_ fell. She didn't even get a chance to get away when the last bullet left the barrel and struck her right between the eyes.

The monster howled and shot up and right out from the ceiling to take to the dark sky. With the evil long gone, both women looked down at what was on the destroyed slabs of the floor. Then at who had collapsed onto their side, bleeding profusely with crimson pooling beneath her broken body.

"_Oh god.._" Lena's whole body shook badly, frozen from the ghastly revelation of the face behind the simple mask.

"**_W….Wa..Wai..A..A..oe.._**" The fractured words, two women knew for some odd reason. Everything made sense now and everything had been shattered. The agent had never moved so fast in her life. She dove to her knees and to the dying Super, tears cascading down her face and ragged breaths leaving her lungs. The CEO dropped to her own with hands covering the lower half of her face. Emeralds were filling with moisture and soon enough her own tears were falling.

"_No no no..NO! No...oh no..no. K...Kara? Oh god. Oh god no..no..NO! Kar! Kar? I...I didn't.._" Alex's mind was suddenly slammed with image after image, memory after memory. Her mind could barely function as more and more came to her like a tidal wave of years once wiped away. Everything made sense now. The wounded expressions, fear, hurt, loss. _Everything.._

_****flashback**_

_"I have to be mind wiped too."_

_"What? No, it's out of the question.."_

_Her heart felt like it was crumbling. All the cruel things said, the yearn to protect her at all costs. Supergirl..Kara had protected her._

_"The whole reason I BECAME Supergirl was to...it was to save you."_

_****end of flashback**_

More and more fell apart, just as she was and finally in moments, Lena was right there with her. It forced the agent to snap out of the state of disarray she had been in.

"_No..Kara? Oh my god. I didn't know..Kara..Kara! Supergirl? Stay with me! Dammit stay with me! You can't die. I won't let you!_"

"_Kara..oh god I'm sorry..I'm so sorry. Hang in there sis. Stay with us. You hear me? Lena and I are here. Come on. **Kir Aoe. **Little sister..come on. **El Mayarah.** Come on.._"

_****flashback**_

"_Everything's gonna be okay."_

_****end of flashback**_

She had watched the life, the love, the hope, the happiness drain from her sister's eyes before J'onn had wiped her memory of who Supergirl was. She had watched day after day, the pain and sadness with not only Kara but Supergirl as well. Alex had destroyed her sister each battle and encounter, spewing cruelty and anger like the hero deserved it. She remembered when the president had practically fired and dismissed the Super right in front of her. Alex hadn't stepped forward or spoke up. She hadn't defended her own sister, who she was supposed to protect.

Now, Kara lay on the floor bleeding before them. Lena had somehow found the strength to stand and run over to the wall where she slid a panel open and screamed for Alex to pick Kara up and bring her through to her hidden lab. The agent didn't want to move her sister, but knew if she didn't do something Kara would die. She slid her hands under Supergirl's limp body, noticing her eyes had shut and chest wasn't rising and falling how it should. Green had taken over where the veins were under the kryptonian's skin.

"_ALEX! In here! Hurry! HURRY!_" She cursed in several languages and finally in the kryptonese her sister had taught her when they were kids, running into the space where the wall used to be. Once inside and into a well lit hospital looking patient room, she knew that Lena had rebuilt after the World Killers. Alex had never been more grateful in her life.

"_We're here Kar. Stay with us. I'm here sis. I'm here **Kir Aoe.**_" She spoke in the Super's ear and with both of them cursing like a couple of sailors, they began to remove what was left of the hero's suit. Most of it had been torn apart, if not burnt away. They didn't have time to lose and without flinching, Alex managed to get an IV going in her sister's arm. The agent took a mask the other woman handed her and carefully slid it over Kara's bloody face. Both watched and prayed to Rao, seeing just the slightest puffs of air against it, knowing Zor-El was breathing.

"I'm gonna order you as many pot-stickers as you want Darling. _Don't leave me. Don't break your promise Kara Zor-El._" Lena wiped her face and removed the pair of gloves she had on, knowing Kara's blood was probably on where she touched. Alex handed her a new pair and she slipped them over to get back to work. Two simple flicks on a remote and the panel on the wall that had been visible was hidden again with the wall back in place.

Thanks to their footage, the time stamps and outrage of the people, Supergirl had been cleared of all charges even if the president still viewed her as a threat. However Kara's life now hung in the balance of two women that shifted into auto-pilot after their hearts had been practically shattered and emotions had been drained from every bit of their being.

A hero's life was on the line, in the arms of the two people who she would die for and hopefully that would not come to fruit. The woman, the angel, that had believed in them and protected them over and over, now lay before them in shambles. They needed to act faster, to be stronger and smarter. They needed to be Kara's heroes like she had always been for them. They would not lose their light today. _For her,_ they needed to be stronger together. Alex and Lena _would not lose..their hope.._

* * *

"I get that. Yes. No. You see where I'm coming from right? I've left my second in charge. He's been released? Okay. Thank you Colonel." The call ended with a deep sigh of absolute relief. She walked back into the room, grateful to Lauren that she was working with her and not against.

"How did it go?" One question that would hopefully make things easier on them, warranting their next plan of attack. A thumbs up from the agent, demoted temporarily and freelancing for the time being, had Lena relaxing finally.

"We're good. Haley understands the situation. She knows I am taking a personal leave of absence. How is she?" One set met the others and emeralds shivered in shades of trepidation.

"I've turned the dial up on the lamps. It's a waiting game Alex." She hated this, tremors raked her frame with just as much nervousness. "_So you..had.._" The agent nodded, trying not to start the onslaught of tears again, threatening to break free.

"Yeah. J'onn explained it all to me. There are a few things I can't quite place yet and he figured that would be a side effect. I was _so mean_ Lena. _So cruel._" Alex took a seat opposite of the CEO and took their hero's other injured hand.

"You didn't tell her that, _what Supergirl did was something Lillian would do."_ Danvers eyes met the Luthor's widening by what she heard from her. "_Yeah._ She was scared and I treated her like shit. _Oh god.._"

"_Reign._" It donned on them then, who the monster in Sam's body had dropped off the building and who had lain helpless and nearly dead before their eyes.

"Argo City." Alex felt a cold shiver run down her spine. "I _almost lost my sister_ to a part of Krypton."

"_My devices...nearly..killed.._" But the agent shook her head.

"Your suit saved her Lena." They both knew it too. "_We..we broke her._" It was a realization they had to come to terms with, before Kara's eyes opened for them again. Their thoughts were scattered, unsure of what to do or say, when she did wake up.

**_'I can't be_**

**_Losing sleep_**

**_Over this, no I can't_**

**_And now I cannot stop pacing.._**

**_Give me a few hours_**

**_I'll have this all sorted out_**

**_If my mind would just stop racing.._**

Their beautiful and selfless angel, lay before their eyes so battered and broken yet alive. It had been far too touch and go for their liking and it wasn't something they intended to go through again, if they could help it. True, neither had known the secret that so many had thrived to obtain. A president that was probably taking it up the backside of Lex Luthor and a misplaced Colonel that had been only doing what was commanded of her. Then there were the Children of Liberty. A group created by hateful, misguided, bigots, marching to the drums of a twisted mind from the sorrow and regrets of his past.

Here though, both of them saw Supergirl in an entirely different light and realized that if it hadn't been for her walking into their lives, two souls could have been forever trapped in the darkness. A lost and lonely outsider, forced to watch her friends, family and home be destroyed for the wrongful choices of her family. A lonely and misjudged woman, forced to grow up within the walls of evil incarnate. One hero's faith in them, never faltering even in times when they lost theirs in her. Her loneliness was a pain they couldn't see. Her focus was on them, their pain and their safety. She sacrificed _everything_ for them.

She lay on the hospital bed, hooked up to numerous machines, donning an oxygen mask after Alex had to intubate in order to keep her sister breathing. Right now, Kara looked so small, so frail. Unfortunately, this wasn't something new to Danvers. To the Luthor, it certainly was. "I think.." Lena deserved to know the truth.

_**'Cause I cannot stand still**_

_**I can't be this in-sturdy**_

_**This cannot be happening..**_

The fragile voice of the agent caught her attention, shifting her eyes away from the face of her best friend to her other friend. "_You saw us when she fell._"

"_I did._" Was Lena about to find out what happened to her friend?

"She started to crash. I had to intubate. If it hadn't been..for the _Legionnaires.._" Alex held out her other hand to her. Lena took it and watched as the agent placed it over her sister's heart. "She was in a coma." Emeralds widened as shock slammed into her body. Her heart no doubt skipped a few beats at the confession. "She knew that if she lost, you and I would be in danger. Even when we went to _Juru.._"

"When I got up in her face and.._fuck_." Guilt was eating away at all her defenses. _How...how could she make this up...to her best friend..?_

**_This is over my head_**

**_But underneath my feet_**

**_'Cause by tomorrow morning,_**

**_I'll have this thing beat.._**

**_And everything will be back_**

**_To the way that it was_**

**_I wish it was that easy.._**

**_'Cause I'm waiting for tonight.._**

She had looked her in the eyes, when she threw the cube at her and something deep within her knew she had seen that before. Those eyes that met her own. Those eyes so very.._familiar._ Now she knew why. Now her sister lay unconscious and holding on..to the thread of belief she prayed to Kara's Rao, was theirs in her. To protect them with everything she had left, her person fell and didn't get back up. '_Oh Kar.._'

**_Then waiting for tomorrow.._**

They didn't care, the presidential _'asshat'_ could go fly a kite. He was only concerned with his pole numbers. His agenda had shown with flying prejudice colors, that were in no way the true colors Supergirl represented not only for their country but for Earth. Despite the outcry and demand for their hero to be cleared of all charges, there was still no public apology. Those that doubted the savior of their planet, felt the foolishness and shame. Supergirl in no way condemned them for their actions. She soared and proved to everyone once again in the absolute truth to what she stood for.

For them, she was different. She was the bubbly goofy blonde. She was the reporter that searched for the truth no matter what the outcome was. She was the sister that sat with the agent and shared a night without any responsibilities and strife. She was the best friend, the strongest believer and devoted angel. Without the cape, she was their solace. With the cape, she was.._she was...everything._

Their hearts tore bit by bit riddled with the pain and loneliness that Kara had suffered by their words, their work, their stupid temper tantrums without seeing the bigger picture. They had been tearing away her world, as if Krypton was falling apart before her eyes.._again.._

_**And I'm somewhere in between..**_

_**What is real...**_

_**Just a dream..'**_

Far above the clouds, away from angered eyes, she hovered and remained. Her judgement and context to actions upon foolish trust, deceiving words, left her mind in tatters and belief in turmoil. For the callus orders of a madman that she knew not their past, her hope of change and peace had only resulted in more war and chaos. She had been mislead and even though her existence had come when Kara Zor-El had split herself in sacrifice to save not just Earth but other planets, all she did was destroy everything the hero fought to protect.

She had been used, tossed around and punished. To fall into the wrong hands, fed nothing but lies, sent to ruin lives no matter the cost. Suddenly, her existence felt like some pitiful disgust that Rao himself had not even accepted nor wanted. Should she go back to a false and cruel monster? Should she send herself into space, solar flaring and ending her pain? _Could she right...this grave..and ruthless..wrong.._**  
**

_**** Continue on?**_


End file.
